Incendiary ball.



J. ORTIZ.

INCENDIARY BALL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 19.17.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

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llV YEA 70R Offli- JULIE-N ORTIZ, 0F GREENVILLE, DELAWARE.

mcnmamny BALL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1919.

v Application filed April 7, 1917. Serial No. 160,342.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ULIEN ORTIz, a citizen ofFrance, residing atGreenville, county of New Castle'and State of Delaware, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Incendiary Balls, of which the followin isa full, clear, and exact description, re erence being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a combustible article which,when ignited, will burn vigorously for a substantial length of time. l

The invention comprises a porous com-,. bustible body, impregnated withsolidified inflammable material. ,The invention also comprises such abody provided with a wick impregnated with an inflammable material,

which may be such that the wick will ignite when seton fire by contactwith a spark or flame or upon exposure to heat, but which is preferablysuch that it will ignite when ex osed to air or b concussion.

he substances t at may-be employed'for the combustible body, for thebody impregnating material, for the wick, and for the wick lmpregnatingmaterial, are quite numerous. The selection of substances will vary withtheir availability, their expense and the use for which the artlcle isdesigned,

and may be determined by other considerations. 1

The article is adapted for widely different uses, but will probably beof greatest 7 value and importance when used as a military weapon. Largenumbers of them'may be carried by aerlal vessels and dropped over largeareas in which there are in ammable materials such as ripe crops in theJ field, in stacks, dry leaves, and dry grasses on the ground, and ingeneral any materials easily set afire. 7

In order that those skilled in the art may manufacture the articlewithout thenecessity of experimentation, I shall describe one referredway of manufacturing the same, 1n connection with which I shall refer tothe accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view ofone form of the article.

Fig; 2 is a view of an apparatus whichmaly used to impregnate the wick.Y prefer to use straw or similar cheap vegetable fiber and convert itinto cellulose .wick in the solution of dissolve by well known chemicaland mechanical operations. g

The resultant'body a will be both combustible and porous, asdistinguished from an incombustible porous body such as brick, stone orasbestos.

The combustible body may then be saturated with parafiin or othersimilar combustible material which will solidify, as distinguished fromcombustible material which will remain liquid, as, for example,gasolene, kerosene, alcohol, fuel oil and crude oil, of which there maybe either evaporation or dropping. Certain other solidifying combustiblematerials, however, may be found available, if the article is used as amilitary weapon and provided there is attached thereto the wicksaturated as hereinafter described.

The shape of the body is immaterial, but it is preferred to make it ofspherical shape, as shown.

For most uses it is advisable or necessary to apply to the body a wickb. This wick need not be attached in any particular way, but I prefer toform a hole through the body and pass the wick through the hole so thatit will extend from opposite sides of the body and may readily beignited.

The wick may be saturated with material similar to that of theimpregnating -matebisulfid. I dip-each wick in succession in thesolution, and as soon as dipped I put the balls in a holder intended tocontain them. When the holder is filled I put on the lid. A suitableapparatus for containing the balls is set forth in an application filedby me on April 7, 1917, Serial No. 160,343 and need /not' be hereindescribed, as it formsno part of the present invention. a

Fig. 2shows an apparatus for dipsing the phos-' v phorus. I have foundit practicable to 'provide a reservoir (1, containing a mixture ofHaving now fully described my invention, what I desire to claim andprotect by Letters Patent, is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a solid body of porous combustiblematerial impregnated with inflammable material, and a wick" attached tothe body and impregnated with a substance which, upon exposure to air,will ignite and with a volatile liquid which, until ree exposure to air,prevent the ignition of said inflammable substance.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a solid body of porous combustiblematerial impregnated with solidified inflammable material and a Wickattached to the body and impregnated with a substance which, uponexposure to air, will ignite and with a volawill' a a wick attached tothe body and impregnated with phosphorus and carbon bisulfi 4. As a newarticle of manufacture, a solid body of porous combustible materialimpregnated with solidified inflammable material and a wick attached tothe body and impregnated with phosphorus and carbon bisulfid.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a

cellulose body impregnated with paraflin and a wick attached to the bodyand impregnated with phosphorus and carbon bi- In testimony of whichinvention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Greenville, Delaware, on thisthird day of April, 1917.

a JULIEN ORTIZ.

